Product Description

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The Apply the Word Study Bible brings you to an intimate understanding of the Bible's message, helps you think about it and apply it to your life. People of all ages and walks of life will enjoy the fresh style of the feature articles, which are directed at helping you approach life with the mind of Christ. You'll discover that the Bible is a very practical book, just what is needed to guide you through every day. Featuring the New King James Version—the best translation for Bible study—and abundant sidebar articles, the Apply the Word Study Bible is the perfect companion for everyday living.

Features include:

New King James Version, the best translation for study

Hundreds of sidebar articles for seeing the relevance of Scripture for everyday living

Insightful introductions to the books of the Bible

Biographies of people during and since Bible times, examples of applying the Word of God to your life

Publisher's Description

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The Apply the Word Study Bible brings you to an intimate understanding of the Bible's message, helps you think about it and apply it to your lives. People of all ages and walks of life will enjoy the fresh style of the feature articles, which are directed at helping you approach life with the mind of Christ. You will discover that the Bible is a very practical book, just what is needed to guide you through every day. Featuring the New King James Version, the best translation for Bible study, abundant sidebar articles and vibrant full-color design, the Apply the Word Study Bible is the perfect companion for everyday living.

Features include:

New King James Version, the best translation for study

Hundreds of sidebar articles for seeing the relevance of Scripture for everyday living

I am disappointed with many of the 'study' Bibles of our day but the Apply the Word Study Bible is quite refreshing in its commitment to prompting one think to about the text one is studying. he Bible has many "application notes" and also includes maps, charts and little character profile boxes throughout. It really is more of an application type of study Bible, not a linguistic study Bible but the application used seems to be mostly exegetically based.

I think that the application notes are quite good, none of them really seem forced onto any text they're commenting on, even the ones found throughout the books of the law, and prophets, are quite good and don't seem as though someone was grasping at straws (as some study Bibles seem to do) to find an application of those seemingly tedious parts of Scripture and so they come up with some eisegetical way to get some personal-meaning out of them.

For example, toward middle of Ezekiel one of the application notes reads:

"when the show was over, so was the people's interest. They heard Ezekiel's words but did nothing to put them into action. They enjoyed the presentation but ignored the messageTheir curiosity about Ezekiel's sermons did not change their lives. When faith becomes more about entertainment than genuine commitment, we become spectators rather than players, concerned more with What is the latest word from God? Than What am I going to do with what God has said? Self-deception is the worst thing about a faith that exalts entertainment. True conversion and true obedience involve not just expanded knowledge about spiritual things or good feelings toward God, but changed purposes, commitments, and actions."

Some of the application notes are quite strikingly insightful, In Luke 19, where the blind man begs Christ to have mercy on him there is a note entitles "Holy Interruptions", part of which reads: "Jesus didn't treat these interruptions like intrusions, He let needy people elbow into His life, even when His closest ffriends tried to block their way. In fact, one could argue that Jesus did much of His work during moments of interruption. We often grown annoyed at disruptions, feeling as if life has been put on hold. When are we missing out on some of life's holiest moments?" Though I have heard of similar concepts/teachings about 'holy interruptions', I had never noticed their significance in Christ's life before and His handling of them.

There were some problems that I had with it though, for instance, some references that were made to specific times when Christians "enter into the presence of God" which concept really seems to discount His omnipresence and His promise never to leave us or forsake us. I also don't like that some of the notes call the land of Israel 'Palestine', I thought that the land did not become 'Palestine' until Hadrian's day, not to mention that in our day its basic area is the state of Israel. I didn't understand why they didn't call that present day land area 'Israel'.

And then there were some things that seemed laughably odd to me (though they didn't mean them to be), three samples of which I'll give here. First: in the intro to each book of the Bible there are lists of key people in that book and key events..etc. Among the key people of 1st Chronicles is "Sheerah, an Ephraimite woman who built three cities". Ummthat just seems odd to me as, though she is mentioned, she hardly seems "key" to the account of book of 1st Chronicles. Second: In a chart comparing Joshua and Paul entitled "Profiles of Leadership" the two men are compared to each other, and in the section "Early indications of leadership potential" one of Paul's early leadership displays was that he "Aggressively tried to stamp out Christianity"? That just seemed too odd of an example in my opinion. And the last that I'll mention is the notes on Matthew 13 where Christ tells some parables, here is a tiny excerpt from the notes, "Jesus captivated listeners by putting spiritual truths into everyday terms they could understand.His images and language brought His message to life for ordinary people." But if the author of those notes would have just read vs. 10-17 of that very chapter they would realize that they are contradicting what Jesus said, when the disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables He said that He spoke in parables so that the people WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND!! Even the disciples did not understand until Christ explained the parables to them.

But, excepting all of the above and some other things, I was pleasantly surprised at the format and study content of this study Bible. I have read too many Christian books and even, if I remember correctly, study Bible notes that seem too, for lack of a better term, "lovey-dovey", too "God is in love with YOU!", too uncomfortably and almost irreverentially romantic. This study Bible is refreshingly un-overly-sentimentalif that makes any sense.

I received a free review copy of this book from the BookLook Blogger program (My review did not have to be favorable)

James is one of my favorite books in the Bible, so when I agreed to review the Apply the Word, Study Bible I chose to read the book of James. I love that in this Bible there is an introduction to each book. There is also a list of key verses after the introduction. In the eBook version, which is what I got for review, all of the key verses are links you can click on and they will take you right to that verse.

Once you get into the chapters of the books you will also see links that will talk about verses in more depth. You can press on the link and it takes you to the explanation. There is also a return to page link at the bottom of the page. So when you finish reading the in depth study you can go right back to where you were reading in the first place.

This bible comes with a pretty good sized concordance and full color maps for further study and help. Overall I like this study bible, although it might be better to get this in print or use on something other than a phone.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers http://booklookbloggers.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

This is a hardback study Bible. It starts out with a Table of Contents, listing all the Books in the Bible along with the page numbers. The Publishers include a Foreward about this particular Bible and what it is meant to mean in the reader's life. The Preface describes all that went into the actual translation process of the NKJV. Each of the Books of this Bible open with an introduction. These introductions describe the background of each book and detail the purposes of each Book. Interspersed throughout many of the Books are Timelines of Biblical events. Sometimes maps are included in the text. There are brief descriptions of many of the key Biblical characters. Throughout all the Books are sidebars which provide thoughts for application of verses and principles. The words of Christ are in red. The Editors end this Bible with a concordance and maps of Biblical locations.

I have studied four books in this Bible. In the Old Testament, I studied the Song of Solomon, the Book of Ruth and the larger Book of Isaiah. In the New Testament, I studied the Gospel of John. I'm impressed at this version of the Bible. It contains the seal "Guaranteed for Life" on both the front and back covers. It lives up to the promise. This Bible is quite durable and there seems little concern that it would come part in the spine. The pages are crisp and clear; the print is easy to read. The sidebars could be distracting and I would read them before reading the text. I'm one that likes the smell of fresh books and this Bible was no exceptions! This translation, the NKJV, is not as hard to understand as the original KJV as the words "You" and "Yours" are used rather than "Thee" and Thou," for example. No translation is perfect, being done by imperfect humans. The sidebars are most helpful if distracting, and don't clain to be inspired. I felt myself being taken back in time as I read these Books of people in another time and in another culture. The text itself would be fairly easy to understand, even without the sidebars. Each Book I studied was a little clearer because of the clarifying articles before each chapter, and the sidebars. I personally prefer Christ's words to not be in red, and for the text to be single column which makes it more modern. This form is fine and it makes the Bible easier to read. If we hold that the entire Bible is the Word of God, there is no need to put Christ's words in red. Remember, the original Bible did not have chapters, verses, and Christ's words were not in red. But this Bible is one that I would like to keep and use over and over as the material is timeless.

I recommend this Bible for all people. I can't recommmend it highly enough. I recommend this Bible for every Pastor, for their own spiritual growth as well as for helping them to prepare sermons. I recommend it for every Christian. It fits every stage of spiritual development. It is not a niche Bible, like men's Bibles or women's Bibles. So it is for anyone. It might not be for those who prefer just plain text, single columns, or read the original KJV only. It would be wonderful if the editors would come out with a youth edition of this Bible. If you are a blogger, consider ordering this Bible, read a Book, and review this Bible. I will provide the link below. You will not be sorry that you did!

I acquired a complimentary copy of this Bible from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for this honest review. I was not required to give a favorable review of this Bble.

I wont use this space to rehash my dislike of how Christian publishers are constantly cooking up new ways to repackage the Bible to have a new niche topic Bible to expand their revenues. But when I saw that Thomas Nelson has now published a Apply the Word study Bible in the New King James Version (NKJV), it caught my interest.

It wasnt the version of NJK that captured my attention (I dont use the NKJV or recommend it), it was the idea of having a study Bible that focused on applying the Word. Even though the Bible is Gods written word to us, the Bible is useless to us if we dont apply the Word of God to our lives. So what could be better than a study Bible that focused on applying the Word?

But after going through this Bible I was disappointed because, at least from my exploration of it, the name of this Bible is misleading. It is a study Bible, complete with book introductions, colorful maps, a concordance in the back of the Bible, and a host of notes littered throughout the chapters. But there was nothing whatsoever that made the notes in this Bible focused on helping the reader apply the word to their lives.

Nothing!

On the front flap of this Bible, the publisher writes, Application notes provide insightful guidance and ideas for applying the scriptures to your life.

You would have to have such application notes to be able to call a study Bible the Apply the Word Study Bible right?

Well, as Ive stated already, this Bible has lots of notes from Genesis through Revelation, but there is nothing about these notes that can be described as application notes.

Nothing.

By all appearances, Thomas Nelson simply took their NKJV Bible, a new set of notes, and slapped on the completely unrelated title of Apply the Word and published it as a new study Bible. If you enjoy the NKJV Bible, theres nothing wrong with having this Bible as your study Bible. But dont expect the notes to have any focus, helps, or real suggestions about how to apply the word to your life.

As for me, I find it bothersome that the title of this Bible is truly misleading. But hang on, Im sure theyll be some new kind of niche Bible coming along soon to take our attention from this one

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

The apply the Word Study Bible put out by Thomas Nelson is a new Bible with the understanding for readers to help develop an intimate understanding of God's Word, the Bible message, and that the application of what they read to their daily lives. I found this Bible to be very well laid out and the notes the maps and the helps are in ideal locations that did not distract the reader for the main text. One other thing that is very nice is that this particular Bible has a guarantee for life so that if there's any problem with the Bible whatsoever it can be returned.

As for some of the negatives of the Bible, it is a little heavy so it's not very conducive for an individual who wants to do a devotional reading or take it with them on a trip. Also one thing that I've noticed is that while there are a lot of good helps they are geared more towards application and I have seem to see very little in terms of actual study. I prefer more study notes that dig into the meaning of words and some history that is behind what is happening. Having said that, when they set out to develop an application based Bible this Bible does the job.

This is definitely a good Bible for somebody who is new to Christianity who would like to understand the Bible better and how it is applicable to them but doesn't want some of the theological notes that a more robust study Bible would have in it.

*I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from Thomas Nelson in exchange for this honest review.

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